Stays of execution now must be 48 hours in advance

New deadline for stays of executionMust be filed 48 hours before or with 'good cause' for a late appeal

CLAY ROBISON, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

Published
5:30 am CDT, Saturday, June 28, 2008

AUSTIN — Attorneys seeking a stay of execution for condemned inmates must now file their motions at least 48 hours before a scheduled execution, under a new rule adopted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The rule allows for late filings if lawyers can show "good cause" that meeting the deadline was "physically, legally or factually impossible."

The court generated controversy last September when Presiding Judge Sharon Keller ordered the court clerk's office closed at 5 p.m., though a condemned inmate's lawyers asked for more time to file an appeal after having computer troubles.

The inmate, Michael Richard, was executed for a Harris County murder later that night.

Following that incident, the court announced it would accept emergency e-mail filings in death penalty cases. Presumably, that wouldn't be changed by the new rule, provided attorneys demonstrated "good cause" if the e-mail filing were after the 48-hour deadline.

That is, a lawyer can't file for a stay with the Court of Criminal Appeals until after a lower state court or a federal court has ruled. Hampton said he hopes the "good cause" exception would apply in those cases.